Joseph_Pestell

Certainly strange to our eyes in an era of very standardised fixed set trains. But in reality only a continuation of many trains around the network for regular well-heeled commuters such as the "Club Trains" from Manchester to Southport and Blackpool. I think that the first of these dated from late Victorian times. I lived and worked for a while in Moffat. When the branch there was still open, it had one through train to Glasgow each day (reversal at Beattock Jct) with special rolling stock.

I used to grow various cider varieties. They ripen over quite a long period, late July through to October.

Plenty of space by comparison with some shows. Are you old enough to have experienced Central Hall? I also liked that there were several seating areas.

Guilty as charged. And I had even seen in the Exhibition Guide that there was a second set of exhibits. Put it down to extreme exhaustion which the quacks can still not explain. Quite surprised that I even made it there, much the longest trip for several months even if it is only about 55 miles each way. Signage in the hall is not great. Having got up to the food court, I could not find a way down again (I don't do down escalators).

I don't think that I have come across any RM webbers who dislike SK, or even doubt his enthusiasm. But that does not exempt him (or Hornby) from criticism.

Well, you would like to think so. But the record suggests that they don't. There have been several projects where the numbers sold would not have covered the development costs of the model and stocks remain. Many of us here could have warned them off. And the bigger strategic decisions such as taking over ranges from other producers have been farcical. I have been a long-term advocate of 1:120 TT but I never expected to see it happen. I agree with another contributor that it could be the right move to use 1:120 for a "Railroad" range. Just hope that they have learned from their 1:76 Railroad range how to differentiate the range properly for marketing purposes.

We had a Kia Soul 1.6 diesel, bought secondhand from a local dealer at 15k mileage. Great little car which was still going well at 110k. Only problem with it was the aircon.

Branchlines has some suitable etched pushbikes. I have a few packs somewhere in store.

I have never had a problem with a Trix motor either. But given their age, it could well be that they need a remag.

Hope to be there. About 20 years since my last MMRS show. But still in hospital which is how I missed Warley.

To answer your other point, whether or not there would be distant signals on the same doll as the starters would depend on how close the next signalling block (and box) is. This is probably not on scene on your layout but you still need to think about it as if it is. It could be a junction to a goods yard, a lead to a locomotive depot, a diverging route, etc. This is case where it is easier to model a real location than a freelance model. Well worth looking up the Signalling Record Society website. You can find diagrams showing various LMS termini which you get inspiration from.

Fifteen years ago, when we got our rescue dog from Dogs' Trust, the fee was £90. Best money ever spent and it included a bag of expensive dog food (£45) and a month's insurance. £260 is not unreasonable when you consider that it costs around £2k a year to keep a dog. If people can not afford a one-off payment of £260, they probably won't be able to afford to look after it properly. We thought that we had got a collie cross but it turned out, when we first took him to the vets, that we had found ourselves an Australian Cattle Dog. That is indeed a collie cross but has been a recognised breed for about 200 years. Because of interbreeding, the ACD does have a known genetic condition which is very poor close-up vision which was certainly the case with ours.

I had a weekend in Paris last year travelling there and back on this line. Issoudun does seem like an odd place as first stop on the return journey but stops at Les Aubrais and Vierzon might lead to some overcrowding. Perhaps they should stop there but to pick up only. Can't remember which year, but I did do Paris-Toulouse once on the Capitole. Comfortable, but a long day.

There seem to be sound problems. Very low volume and someone else talking in the background.

I have enjoyed your layouts a lot. Modelling a non-prototypical location but "getting it right" involves a lot of knowledge and research. As you say, many of the public won't care that much and yet I think some of them may go away with a niggling feeling that what they have seen is unrealistic and could be so much better.

No, but perhaps consider whether that is the best prototype to choose for an exhibition layout. Or accept that there are compromises involved. After all, getting it into the shed at all involves curves that weren't there in the real world. No easy answers.

Perhaps not enough layouts shown at exhibitions have been designed with exhibition in mind. Entirely understandable as many have been designed for home use by the builder. I overheard one well-known layout builder say (this weekend) that he had never previously seen the "public side" of his layout as it had been built in his shed where it takes up all the space. The landscape on that layout, a prototype location, is fairly flat but is sloping down from the viewer towards the operator so not ideal for exhibition. With luxury of space, surely the ideal exhibition layout is a four-track mainline with a goods yard (or similar) which can be shunted while traffic continues on three of the mainline tracks. Perhaps not too many such locations out there on the "real" railway. But simpler layouts can also be entertaining if operated prototypically. How often have I seen a freight train reversed through a crossover onto the other running line and held to allow another train to pass? Not often if at all, yet it was very much a feature of the steam railway.

The problem is that you can't actually deliver anything over the internet.

As high as needed. The landscape was there before the railway. If the wall becomes too tall, either the railway would take another route, or there would be a tunnel. I would suggest that you do a 3D drawing of that part of the layout. Or a 1:10 scale cardboard model so that you can see what looks right to you.. Only quite low walls can be built perpendicular. Most will need to be angled back into the hill (in reality thicker at the base.

You are behind the times. The French definitely do Marmalade these days. I think that "Orange Amere" has been in the Bonne Maman range for about 20 years. Agreed that it was not well known 30+ years ago when my parents moved to France. Several orange trees' fruits were going to waste. But she taught several locals to make marmalade and it is now available in the village shop.

An exhibition anecdote from a long time ago. A club offered to exhibit at our exhibition (one of the best 4mm exhibition layouts of its time) with the prime selling point that one could not see the joins (as Eric would have said to Ernie). The downside was that they needed access to the exhibition hall 24 hours in advance which we could not arrange (or afford).

I am still having difficulties getting into the site at all, including being directed to a page that says the site does not exist. I have got here by fairly random methods but many others may not be so lucky.

Can't remember the name but there was a guy in the Bournemouth area who used to stock them. Like JZ, I have a few which I don't think that I will get round to using (ex-shop stock. I used to sell quite a lot of them.) You are no doubt familiar with the trick of "converting" to 4mm scale by raising onto a dwarf wall of brick.

I can't defend P&O's actions - not least because I have family in Dover, some of whom have worked for them. But I found the conduct of the MPs on the Select Committee rather poor. Since then I have learned that, as I already suspected, the roots of P&O's action is the arrival of Irish Ferries on Dover-Calais, with, you guessed it, an agency crew paid at lower rates. Grant Shapps seems to have rather a lot of responsibility in all of this. With, if I recall correctly, 40% of EU/UK goods coming via Calais, this is an important issue that UK Govt really does need to get a grip on. Not to mention the 6 hour delays for cars this weekend..

I don't disagree at all with what you have said. But you have not answered the question. (Have you considered a career as a politician?) A company (in this case a PLC which is little unusual when there is a sole owner) has its own legal "personality". So it should be treated separately from Abramovitch. Seems to me that Govt , and the Chelski lawyers, have made a basic error here.